Rankin sheriff asks for robot help in barricade situations

BRANDON, Miss. (AP) - When someone has barricaded themselves inside a home, be it all alone or with hostages, it causes a dangerous situation for law enforcement.

In order to gather the surveillance to end the standoff, some off the best tactic is to use a robot that can take a camera inside the barricaded area to observe points of entry and number and description of weapons, hostage takers or hostages.

Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey wants to use money he confiscated from drug dealers to pay for the bulk of the costs of two robots that would help his officers in tactical situations. One does surveillance, and one practically has opposable thumbs.

"They're for different situations. Both of them will climb stairs, both have two-way communication with the suspect, video and audio, but the tactical one has an articulating arm on it and a door-breacher tool," Bailey said.

So one can scope out the situation, and the other has an arm that turns doorknobs and locks, and if that doesn't work, it can just breach the door with a blast.

"With these, I won't have to send a team in to open doors," Bailey said, reiterating that sending officers into unknown areas can put their lives at risk.

It also cuts down on gunfire interchange, he said.

Board of Supervisors president Greg Wilcox said the board wants to make sure to research the market to make sure the robots are the best bang for the buck and if needed, meet guidelines on sole source purchases.

The tactical robot would cost $65,000, and that's the one Bailey is planning on using the drug money for. The other is $25,000. Bailey and Wilcox said it's worth the cost to save lives.

"I think it's a great tool to have. It could save lives and everything else along with that. Just putting one person's life in danger is not worth any amount of money," Wilcox said. "I know it sounds like a lot, but it's not compared to one person's life. If we can come up with tools like that available in our arsenal, that's what we should do."

It's not just about when people take hostages either, Bailey said. It's not unusual for people to become suicidal and lock themselves in a home or other structure while threatening to kill themselves. In January alone, there was a barricade situation three of the four weeks of the month, Bailey said.

In the cases of suicidal subjects, often drugs and alcohol are involved, and the barricaded subject will pass out. In those cases it's especially important to know what the state of the suspect is.

The FBI has a device called a "throwbot" that local jurisdictions can borrow if it's not being used, but it can take time to get to a scene. It has made the difference in some cases, however. Bailey said having robots that belong to his department could cut out valuable hours in situations like one they faced recently.

"Recently we had a standoff for six hours, he was semi-conscious, we kept trying to talk to him, and luckily we were able to do a throwbot and he had passed out," Bailey said.

Wilcox said the board is completely in favor of the idea of finding alternatives to risking human lives, and that he's pleased Bailey is looking into equipment to help save lives and property.

"This is the world today. As tragic as it is, we've got to stay ahead of the curve and I'm glad the sheriff is looking at things like that to help out in any situation we can," he said.

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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com